The Age of Darkness
by Gongsun Du
Summary: It's been over a year since Korra and Asami entered the spirit portal, never to return. The fragile peace brought on by Kuvira's defeat is on the verge of collapse. When the revived Earth Empire recovers a secret weapon, they spark a war that threatens not only the Four Nations, but mankind itself. (Be Warned there will be OC's and adult content in later chapters).


**Chapter 1: Allies in Name and Nothing Else**

* * *

 **D-Day: One Year and Six Months Since Korra Entered the Spirit Portal**

The soldiers crept up to the water slowly. It was an hour before sunrise. The Su Oku River was shrouded in a light mist, and a cool steady breeze rustled the many trees around them. Hidden by their camo suits, the soldiers waited in silence, anxious for the signal to cross.

A bird squawked in the distance. Just another wild animal that the ample forests around the river were likely teaming with. To a casual observer there might as well not have been a sound at all—but _they_ recognized it. Warily the soldiers shuffled along the bank and waded into the dark murky waters of the river and began the swim to the other side.

It didn't take them long. The Su Oku River, while deep in places, was relatively narrow. The current was strong, but not overwhelming, especially not to the likes of them. They weren't the usual grunts that threw themselves bravely into enemy fire hoping by sheer will or sheer weight of numbers to overwhelm the enemy. No. These were the elite of the elite. Handpicked from the Special Forces Brigade. They were the ones you sent when you wanted certainty. And in this situation, with the entire army of the Earth Empire poised to launch a surprise invasion of the United Republic, certainty meant the difference between victory and catastrophe.

The south bank of the river, while almost identical in appearance, was immediately different from the north. They were in enemy territory now. There was no turning back.

In the darkness, they silently killed the United Forces sentries they encountered. There weren't many. After all, the nearest bridge was over 20 miles away. But even those bridges would be lightly guarded. President Raiko and the crumbling republic could scarcely afford to keep their precious capital from crumbling, let alone their outdated military. But starting the attack there, while logical, would have raised alarms far and wide and much too soon. For the time being, the element of surprise was crucial.

The United Republic would fall fast enough. What would follow, however, would be a war the likes of which the world had never seen. Kuvira and her invasion, while failed, had shown that the Avatar could be beaten. But in this case, even that was irrelevant. No one had seen Korra for over a year since the day she and her beloved Asami had walked into the spirit portal. The world was itching to reset the Pai Sho pieces that the Fire Nation had left in play for so long. The Avatar was no longer here to stop it. And even if she was, she too would be thrown off the board.

As the soldiers regrouped at the prearranged rally point, their commander glanced at his watch, and turning back nodded silently to one of his men. Another bird called out as the glimmering rays of the sun began to appear over the distant horizon. And then simultaneously, the engines of the Imperial army roared to life and twenty thousand men and mecha suits began their advance.

Six Months Ago

"First, let me start this off saying that the United Forces were in no way responsible for the border skirmish in the—" Immediately, President Raiko was deafened by a roar of reporters shouting.

"President Raiko, is it true that ten Earth Kingdom soldiers were killed in the attack?"

"No, at this time it is unclear just how—"

"President Raiko, is it true that the attackers used metalbending?"

"Mr. President, were our troops involved in the aftermath of the incursion by the Earth Empire?" For a moment the cacophony died down.

Raiko struggled for a moment to reply, but finally managed to compose himself, "There is no clear indication that the attack came from—"

"Are you afraid of making a stand?" A reporter shouted in the distance.

"We…that is I…I." Raiko fumbled and within an instant the shouting match resumed. Desperately, the president of the United Republic tried to intervene, but it became plainly obvious that the situation was hopeless. Wearily he motioned to his press secretary who quickly switched places with him at the podium as Raiko walked out of the reception room.

"That's all for now ladies and gentleman." The secretary shouted, his voice muting as Raiko walked down the east corridor of city hall. Two presidential guards walked alongside him, but that hardly made Raiko feel safe. These days nothing did. He hardly slept anymore and when he did he almost always had nightmares.

Raiko wasn't a strong man, he knew that, his wife knew that, even the voters knew that, but still he was put in charge of a country. Why? Because unlike the other candidates, with their varying charismas and impressive credentials, he knew how to frame an argument. He knew just what to say and just how to say it. He knew how to appear tough even when he wasn't. He knew how to lie even when the truth was staring him right in the face. In short: he was a model politician.

He knew little when it came to military matters, in fact he knew nothing—nothing real that is. In economic matters he was just as clueless. And why shouldn't he be? He had advisors and men below him who could take care of all that. His job, his only _real_ job, was to have the trust of the people. He didn't.

The guards ahead of him opened the doors of his private council room and Raiko strode in, leaving the other two guards outside. The chamber was brightly lit, sparsely furnished, and empty, save for five people. Fire Lord Izumi sat at one end of the large table in the center of the room, the picture of fortitude and at the same time tranquility. A monarch in every sense of the word. She was something that Raiko could never even begin to comprehend. Next to her was Tonraq, but unlike the confident Fire Lady, the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe looked uneasy and to Raiko's sharp eyes, exhausted. The next two chairs were taken by the representatives of the Northern Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom, respectively. Both were men in their late 40's and both seemed uncomfortable to say the least. At the other end of the table and the object of the hidden or open scorn of everyone else in the council room, hidden beneath a thin layer of politeness, sat the smug ambassador of the Earth Empire. General Lei was his name and unlike Raiko he _was_ a strong man. A strong man who had no place ever being in a political setting. To this day Raiko wasn't sure if his appointment to the post of ambassador was due to favoritism, benign neglect, or intentional provocation. For himself, he decided it was the latter.

"Twenty minutes late Mr. President." He sneered, "How fashionable."

"My apologies." Raiko replied coolly, "Democracy does take more time than tyranny. So sorry you had to wait."

"Oh stick it, Raiko." Lei said dismissively. "Your government is a farce."

"Like yours isn't?" The Fire Lord parried. "I may be a monarch but atleast I don't pretend to be a duly elected official like your General Yong."

"Our government is perfectly legitimate." Lei said, casually running his fingers along the polished table top. "If you like, you and the other nations could send another inquisitorial delegation to see the will of the people."

"Will of the people…" Izumi scoffed. "You politicians always toss that phrase around as if the people have only one will."

"Don't they?" Lei asked, glancing at President Raiko, "Isn't that how jerks like him claim to be elected and the oh-so constitutional Earth Kingdom still claims legitimacy?"

"Watch yourself, Lei." Tonraq said, rising threateningly from his chair. "It might spark a diplomatic incident, but I'm not above knocking an ambassador across the room."

"Is that right?" Lei began to get up too.

"Both of you that's enough!" Raiko ordered, taking his place across from all of them on the opposite side of the table.

"Heh, I guess I'll let that one slide, Tonraq" Lei smiled, "Seeing as how your daughter ran off with another woman. What a disgrace…"

Tonraq's eyes went berserk.

"You son of a—"

"Tonraq!" Raiko matched the waterbenders gaze and silently pleaded for him to calm himself. After a moment Tonraq eased back into his chair, reluctantly.

"Now then." Raiko began, "We have to fix this."

"We?" Lei glanced around at the other seated at the table. "Don't you mean, you?"

"Excuse me?"

"It was your men that attacked our soldiers." Lei replied.

"After your men slaughtered our patrol!" The Earth Kingdom ambassador cried.

"Our men were only defending themselves." Lei gestured at a copy of an official report from the Earth Empire that all of them had received earlier that day.

"Our soldiers only attacked after your men did."

"Based on what evidence?"

The ambassador sighed, "You know as well as I do—"

"That there's no proof either way?" Lei finished for him, "Of course I do. Everyone here knows that. Otherwise we wouldn't need to be wasting our time—"

The ambassador cut him off, "It's irrelevant."

Lei's eyebrows furrowed, "Irrelevant?"

"That's right."

"Irrelevant?" He repeated tensely, "The balls you have to say that to me, when six of our men are dead. You really think—"

"It's irrelevant because this incident occurred on Earth Kingdom soil!" The ambassador shouted, glancing around the room for support. Finding none, he lost what little control that remained.

"For fuck's sake we've been arguing this for hours, but the point is your men were in a place where they had no business being! They crossed the border without warning and upon being spotted by our men they attacked and fought their way back across the border leaving forty of our men and two United Forces attachés dead. How in the mother of Kyoshi are we still arguing this?"

"Ambassador." Raiko tried to calm him down but the man slammed his hand on the table.

"I've had enough of this farce, Mr. President. It's clear that the Earth Empire has no intention of apologizing for its actions, so I see no more reason for me to be here. Good day to you all." Rising from his chair, the ambassador stormed out of the room.

"I guess that's that." Lei said with a smirk. "Well then, I best be off too. No sense in wasting anyone's time. Nice chat though. I'm glad to see diplomacy isn't as futile as everyone says it is. Good day."

With a half bow Lei too left the room, but the tension lingered in the air. For a while, the remaining few sat in silence. Each trapped in their thoughts. Most eyes were on Raiko, so it came as no surprise that he was the first to speak.

"We need to deal with this." He said, carefully.

"I agree," Tonraq said with a sigh, "Leaving such a serious incident unresolved will only lead to future—"

"I mean the Earth Empire." Raiko said, and suddenly all eyes turned to the Fire Lord. She met their gaze with silence.

"Fire Lord Izumi," Raiko began, "We need the Fire Nation's support if we're to put adequate pressure on the Earth Empire. If we can present a united front against them they'll have no choice but to back down from—"

"No."

Raiko felt his insides turn to water, "Fire Lord Izumi, perhaps we should discuss this further."

"My answer is no, President Raiko." Izumi pushed back her spectacles, "I'm sorry, but the Fire Nation has no place intervening in these matters."

"Fire Lord Izumi, if we don't address this problem now there will only be more provocations and eventually there will be war."

"Perhaps," The Fire Lord weighed her words carefully, "But I have no intention on spending money and lives preserving the legitimacy of failing governments. That's the Avatar's duty, not mine."

"Fir Lord Izumi, you can't be serious!" Tonraq cried, "If Korra was here you know she'd ask for your help!"

"And even then I'd refuse her." Izumi continued in the same careful tone, "The Fire Nation has its own citizens to take care of. I'm sorry, but I refuse to be part of any military solution."

"And what of the treaties we've signed?" Raiko asked, his voice increasingly desperate. "The alliance we've forged. The Fire Nation was one of the founding fathers of the United Republic. Surely you haven't forgotten that, Fire Lord Izumi?"

"I haven't forgotten that President Raiko, but if treaties exist that compel my nation to escalate this conflict then I will have no choice but to declare them void."

A jolt went through the room, now the tension in the air was thicker than ever. Raiko felt his façade of confidence melting away, his thoughts racing now, desperately searching for a solution. It was at that moment that the ambassador for the Northern Water Tribe finally spoke.

"I'm afraid the Fire Nation isn't alone in this, Mr. President." The ambassador shot a sympathetic glance at Tonraq before resuming, "In the event of a conflict, the Northern Water Tribe will also declare neutrality."

"Ambassador Howakk, this is—"

"I'm sorry, President Raiko." The ambassador continued, meaning every word. "But like the Fire Nation we have no interest in fighting in a foreign war."

"You can't be serious, Howakk!" Tonraq cried, "This can't really be the view of Desna and Eska. Korra is their cousin, they can't seriously abandon her at a time like this!"

"Korra is gone, Tonraq." Izumi said firmly, "And none of us are about to play at world peace."

"So it's really come to this, huh?" Tonraq scoffed, "The once great nations, now a bunch of cowards. Allies in name and nothing else."

Izumi rose from her seat, "I am sorry, Tonraq."

"You will be." Tonraq muttered, "We all will be."

Two Days Earlier…

"Wolfbat one this is Control, do you copy? Over." The pocket radio crackled.

Flipping on the transmitter, Lieutenant Dui replied, "Control, this is Wolfbat one, we're five by five, over."

"Wolfbat one, Dragonfly reports EK patrols have moved on to patrol point three. Copy, over."

Dragonfly was their stealth recon, one of the few airbenders who remained loyal to the Earth Empire. If his report was accurate that meant that their operation was set to begin, "Control I copy. Over."

"Wolfbat one, proceed to rally point alpha and then to your objective. You have 40 minutes till the next patrol. Good luck. Over."

"Copy, Control. Over and out." Lieutenant Dui flipped the transmitter off and slid on his night vision goggles. In the darkness, he could make out his twenty man platoon crouched around him. Raising his hand open-palmed, he tapped his steel helmet and spun it around, signaling them to move out.

The path through the rocky hills that marked the border between the constitutional monarchy of the Earth Kingdom and the "free" people of the Earth Empire was difficult to navigate even in daylight. But in darkness, with no flashlights or flare markers, tripping over an unseen obstacle was as likely as running headfirst into an enemy patrol.

Lieutenant Dui prayed that Dragonfly was right, that the way really was clear. But even then, the month long reconnaissance his military had undertaken of the area could still be flawed. After all, patrols changed every couple of months or so. Who was to say the schedule today would be the same as yesterday.

Dui sighed in his head, uncertainty was a soldier's bread and butter after all.

In the darkness he spotted the crooked tree that marked their rally point. Taping his helmet he turned back and made a fist with his hand. The soldiers gathered in around him for a quick breather. They didn't tarry long. Within a minute they were on the move. They didn't stop until they reached the large rock face of the small mountain.

Mt. Haka was its official name, but locals called it Tortoise Mountain because its dome-like shape and the cracks that ran along its sides resembled the lion turtles of old. Ironically, like the mythical creature it resembled, it too contained a hidden power. One that might well turn the tide in the Empire's favor.

It took them longer than expected, but they eventually found the secret entrance to the hidden weapons cache. Turning on their flashlights, the soldiers spread out through the warehouse searching for their prize. Most of what they found was worthless. Dismantled mecha suits, grenades, bombs, things that could easily be made in the abundant factories of the Earth Empire.

Their objective, however, would not be as mundane as ordinary weapons. To the naked eye what they were searching for would go unnoticed. That was how it had survived the disarmament following Kuvira's failed war, hidden by the retreating Earth Empire forces among a pile of weapons where they knew no one would think to look.

"Sir!" The soldier's voice drew Lieutenant Dui to the far end of the warehouse where the man gestured to a small metal crate. On its side was the seal of the Earth Empire and its serial number. Checking his papers, Lieutenant Dui confirmed the numbers matched.

Drawing out his crowbar the soldier prepared to pry it open, but Dui grabbed his hand, "No. Our instructions were to keep it locked."

"Yes, sir." The soldier gestured to another and together they lifted the crate up with their metal bending.

"We got what we came for," Lieutenant Dui ordered, "Move out!"

It was 32 minutes since their initial insertion and they were less than 400 meters from the border. Lieutenant Dui was never one to celebrate prematurely, but in his eyes the mission was as good as over. Once they cleared the border they would be met by a mecha team that would carry the crate to the train station and its next destination, wherever that might be.

Searchlights came on from left and right and a voice on a loudspeaker shouted them to halt. For a moment time seemed to freeze around Dui. He felt his heart beating into his ears his fists clenching involuntarily, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. It was an ambush and there was only one way out.

"Disperse!" He ordered and the fight began.

Ten Days After D-Day

The Flags of the Earth Empire hung solemnly atop the naval headquarters of the port city of Chang-kwan. It had been the final bit of resistance to the Empire's invasion, but like the others it too had fallen. A small portion of the United Forces fleet had managed to escape the harbor in time, most however were bombed and torpedoed and now lay slumped over at the bottom of the harbor. Like the silent crossing at Su Oku, the aerial raid on Chang-Kwan had been launched preemptively and without an official declaration of war.

Immoral, Lieutenant Dui decided, but effective. Within 24 hours of the initial attacks the United Forces were in a rout, desperately trying to regroup at Republic City. And then…

And then nothing.

Dui pensively took a sip of the tea in his hand, it was the only drink left in the main mess hall of the Headquarters building. Nobody here seemed to know the details of just what had happened in Republic City, only that it in three days they had brought the troubled chapter of the United Republic of Nations to a close.

Victory was theirs, Dui thought, and yet something about it felt off. Normally the capture of a city, much more so the capital of an enemy nation meant that there would be scores of stories and propaganda broadcasts detailing the heroism and sacrifice of the troops involved. Instead all they heard was silence.

"Something's not right." Dui muttered into his cup.

"You say something?" The man across from him put down his tea cup and glanced at Dui quizzically.

"Nothing, Colonel Yang. I was just thinking out loud."

"I wish you'd drop the formalities, Dui." Yang said with a sigh, "We've been friends since we were old enough to look up girl's skirts. I get enough of this Colonel bullshit from my men, I don't need it from you."

"I thought you liked your rank." Dui said playfully.

"I do." Yang smirked, "Very much. But now that the war's over I'd like atleast a little bit of normalcy now and again. You know?"

Dui nodded his head.

"So what's not right?" Yang continued, "Come on, out with it."

Dui sighed, "Don't you find it a little bit odd that Republic City fell almost a week ago and we haven't heard any details?"

"Not really." Yang popped a small dumpling into his mouth and swallowed it, "But then again you know about delicate missions and secrets far better than me."

"That's just it." Dui said, "An attack of this size being hushed up? Something's just not right."

"Relax." Yang said lazily, "I'm sure General Yong just wants more time to write his victory speech, that's all. Spirits know, he could stand to do better."

"I guess." Dui muttered. But in his mind he couldn't help, but think back to the black op, six months ago.

Upon dispersing, his men into squads of four they had managed to evade and fight their way back across the border. They had taken heavy fire, almost half dead or wounded, but the package had remained intact.

To this day Dui didn't have the faintest idea what it contained. Even so, he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever it was, it was responsible for what had happened in Republic City.

…

"So it's true then?" Fire Lord Izumi gazed at the general. He was as pale faced and uneasy as the court officials behind him.

"I'm afraid so, Fire Lord Izumi. The United Republic has fallen."

"I see." She said, pausing for gravity, her mind already made up. "Convene my military council, General. Tomorrow we attack."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey everyone! This is my first new story in a long time. I've been fumbling around with the ideas for this store for almost a year so I finally decided to put it into writing. As always I very much appreciate your reviews so be sure to leave one. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like. Advice is always appreciated. I hope you enjoyed the story thus far and I hope to continue. Thanks for reading!**


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